Cannavaro believes Sarri can 'do well in the Premier League' with Chelsea

Fabio Cannavaro discussed crying for mentor Carlo Ancelotti, building on Maurizio Sarri’s Napoli and Antonio Conte’s Chelsea work ethic.

The Ballon d’Or and World Cup winner is now a Coach in China with Guangzhou Evergrande and revealed to La Gazzetta dello Sport what he learned from mentor Ancelotti at Parma from 1996-98.

“What I remember the most from Ancelotti is learning zonal marking. I was accustomed to only tracking the man, but with him I learned the right movements and posture. It’s difficult to stop Carletto once he starts giving you notes!

“It was an exceptional rapport I had with him. Just think, when he said goodbye to us in order to join Milan, all the players were crying.

“He’s a great man, even if… when he arrived at Parma, I was still pretty young and he became convinced I could do better as a left-back. I think it was one of his few errors as a Coach. In fact, after a while he realised his mistake, moved me and Lilian Thuram to the centre and we became a wonderful defence.”

Ancelotti’s influence is rippling through Serie A now, including Milan boss Gennaro Gattuso.

However, Cannavaro sees plenty of Maurizio Sarri’s 4-3-3 in the current Rossoneri side too.

“It’s modern football that is moving in that direction. It’s all an issue of timing and spaces, which Rino has always been good with.

“I think Sarri will do well in the Premier League with Chelsea. Ancelotti has intelligently built on Sarri’s Napoli, just as Sarri is doing with Antonio Conte at Chelsea.

“It’s true that players might not miss Conte, but he left behind an important work ethic that wasn’t there before. If you look carefully, Chelsea players had the best fitness levels of anyone in the World Cup.”